The Theorem of Chaotic Happenings
by Justcallmezari
Summary: It had been fated since the beginning of them. All would witness the change of allegiance and forgery of treatises, for the bringer of the end is o'er the horizon...Yggradsil would burn to sulfurous ash and there would be nothing... Yet it would begin anew.
1. Hey! Let's Build an Empire Together!

Rating: T (adult language)

**Heads up!: This fiction contains adult language, all things sciency, witty banter, and possibly some slash (but not for some time...I think) so if this offends you, turn away. Now.**

**I mean it. **

**Shoo!**

Warnings: For this chapter; none.

I would like to start with a shout out to the amazing, talented, magnificent, exquisite, lovely, charming, delightful, winsome, divine being known as avengurl. She has been nothing but a huge helping hand in the making of this story through the process of rants, character studies, half-ass brainstorming and editing. You are all, and more, of the aforementioned traits, and I cannot express my thankfulness in words.

* * *

It had been fated since the beginning of time. All would witness the change of allegiance and forgery of treatises, for the bringer of the end is o'er the horizon. Such had been fated since the beginning of time.

Those of the living would turn against their kin; the skies would turn to dark and the ground to fire. Yggradsil would burn to sulfurous ash and there would be _nothing._

Yet, it would begin anew.

Ginnungagap would spew forth a new tree from its darkest depths and beings would be created once more; man following giants, elves and gods. The balance of magic would be restored, distributed equally throughout the realms: dark and light, and the countless wars calling for the pecking order to be established would commence as they did an eon ago. Kingdoms forged and felled, blood spilled and life created. Mindless slaughter and gainful manipulation would take place the eerie stillness of initial creation, writing out the next prophecy to be carried forth. The Norns would weave away tirelessly, keeping time with the expansion of life. Snipping and knotting and tying and burning, they would control and create all for nothing was possible without the hand of fate and the guidance of destiny.

It was the way things happened, much like Newton's Law of Inertia. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And much like Murphy's law, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Just like said laws, the impossible is possible and when it happens all that can go wrong _will_. And just like any other rule, there are exceptions. When Odin held the Jotun babe in his hands, he knew just how wrong things could go. He knew how this small babe could grow up to be a monster just like his father; how he could accidentally awaken the delicate powers deep within him, unleashing the powers of creation and destruction; the power of chaos.

When Frigga gave unto her youngest son the most ancient tomb of magic the realm had to offer and the instruction of herself, she knew how horrible of a turn Loki's life could take. She knew how he could be ridiculed, how he might have to construct a mask of perfect indifference and adapt a frighteningly aloof persona. How he might be sought after by all the wrong beings in search for such a young male sorcerer with such potential; something that was so rare and so him. She knew her youngest son might find the chaos within himself and lose his mind to the void.

When Loki broke the barrier within his mind, the shock to his core was beyond comprehension. Stumbling ungracefully to his washroom, he gazed at his haggard appearance. The full length mirror gave him privy to his bare chest and linen shorts. He dared not think of the state of his long hair, let alone gaze and take note. Studying the ancient art of seidr into the late hours of the morning had that effect. But no, this time was different. The gleam in his eyes was different, the color of his irises a new vibrant green, an _unnatural_ green.

With a potent push of curiosity, he let his magic flow freely and smiled happily, eyes closed as the pressure within his chest dissipated. Only when his eyes open did he register the fact that this potent plasma was indeed much more potent than it ought to be. It had graduated from a simple, dull forest green, to a vibrant, near poisonous emerald. _How curious_, he thought with excitement yet slight worry, _I must inform Mother. Perhaps I have finally perfected my charm incantations._

Exiting the ivory clad room, the green-eyed boy tugged a cream tunic over his head, leaving a halo of raven hair in its wake. Not once did he stop to analyze the feeling of destruction his 'graduation' of magic had induced. Nor did he analyze the increased desire of creation and mischief within himself. Even the feeling of completeness was left unmentioned, acknowledgment stopping at a simple smile.

"Urd, my dear, the young Prince is awake. Chaos is aware. It is only a matter of time." "I know, my sweet, Ragnarok will be upon us once more. This time, it will be glorious. Our savior has been chosen; our bringer is _here_."

As a genius, Tony Stark had a thirst for knowledge that was unparalleled. So when he stumbled across some interesting information before the invasion occurred that could potentially reverse all negative human waste, consequentially "saving the world" (god, how he hated that blasted phrase), his curiosity was more than piqued. It was bursting through the roof of his penthouse apartment in StarkTower. Not only that, he was pissed the hell off. How had something of the sort managed to evade his radar for so long? Especially with Jarvis analyzing every god damn action taken via computer, online or not.

That's beside the point though.

This information was a file on a certain cube, one that guaranteed a clean energy source. A cube that made cold fusion possible and opened countless doors; why, the possibilities were limitless! But, this cube was no longer within Tony's reach. It was held down by a bunch of idiotic half-brained Cambridge graduates that couldn't help but stick their brown noses where they didn't belong. Not to mention that said graduates happened to be employed by SHIELD. Oh, and the fact that the World Security Counsel had given Colonel Nick Fury the green light to use this other worldly artifact on anything he saw fit (i.e: weapons of mass destruction that Tony refused to create).

Let it not be mistaken, Tony Stark wasn't exactly a man to be trusted, or even a good one for that matter. SHIELD had the right idea when they booted him off the Avengers Initiative. He didn't work well with others, he was a right asshole, and he had a tendency of behaving like a spoilt child. Big fucking deal, everyone had problems right? Well, not like Stark. Not everyone displayed evidence of mild narcissism and sociopathic behaviors or extreme PTSD. Nor did they express interest in volatile sources of power that could knock a chunk of Earth out of the Milky Way or would do whatever they had to get their hands on such power.

So yeah, if one had access to the world's largest security organization, which in turn knew all the dirty secrets on everyone and everything, it would be best to leave Tony Stark out of their sphere of interest. It was quite the shame that Nick hadn't known that.

But enough of a tangent. Back to the cube.

(Or the block of mystical mojo shit as Tony liked to call it.)

Tony found out of such an object when he was doing a routine sift through Jarvis's hardware. He was checking for any sign of any bugs and just general fuckery (as it wasn't uncommon for a ballsy MIT grad to try and worm their way around his impenetrable firewalls. It was kind of cute though; Jarvis said it even tickled when they tried so hard to get to Tony's data.) What was found during the sift was an unopened file. Inconspicuous as shit, it was something that Tony had never seen before and the genius was positive that it hadn't ever been there.

"Jarv, I'm actually seeing this right?" Tony had asked unsurely, scratching at his goatee. He swiveled slightly from side to side in his stiff office chair (if he got too comfortable, he'd fall asleep and who the hell needed that?), ACDC shirt stained with last night's (at least he thought it was last night) failed attempt at making a mocha venti (thank Dum-E) while baggy sweats hung low on his hips, his brows quirked in uncertainty. Uncertainty was a very rare expression on the normally cock sure face and it felt weird to wear such an expression.

"If your inquiry is pertaining to the unopened file deep within my hard drive riddled with an obscene amount of encryptions reminiscent to those preferred by your father, you are indeed making an accurate observation." The crisp, slightly snooty British lilt colored the room with an air of company, one that Tony was thankful for constantly.

"No need to be such a thorough bastard, just open the damned thing." Tony grumbled under his breath and turned his head to an adjacent holo screen, this one focusing on schematics for a suit that could endure the atmosphere (or lack of) in space.

"As you wish. Should I also neglect to inform you when one of your many running programs is due to have a catastrophic run in with SHIELD Runner?"

"Don't be a smartass, I _will_ reprogram you."

Tony had briefly forgotten about the newest technological advance SHIELD had made. It was a handy dandy virus they dubbed Runner; a stream of binary hell that would ransack any computer or smart device for all information it held-without the owners' knowledge of course. It was useful for hacking HYDRA bases and what have you, but was definitely a destructive force when unleashed on Tony's private server, as proxy servers could only get one so far.

The brunette recalled when he'd first gotten word of Runner as he absentmindedly stroked Dum-E's alloyed head and Jarvis opened the mysterious Howard Stark like encrypted file. It was just after he had gotten over the Palladium poisoning and SHIELD had been desperate to figure out why he'd lashed out and what made him calm again. Dum-E had been acting quite strangely and so Tony had asked Jarvis to run a scan on his Motherboard and hard drive. He had been infected by the god forsaken thing, and it had taken some vigorous cyber battling before Tony could drive it out. Back then, Runner had been hot off the press and in need of many modifications. SHIELD had simply written it off as superior encoding on his part and left him alone.

Needless to say, Tony was scared shitless for a while. Now, he took his annual 'Jarvis Sifts' much more seriously. Without so much as a warning, the holo screen directly in front of his face had sprung to life, displaying quite the interesting info. SHIELD called this cube the Tesseract, and it was a cube of limitless power; clean energy for the entire world could be supplied by this thing, and Dear Old Daddy Stark knew it. It explained why he spent the second half of his life searching for it. Oh, and Captain America too, but that was beside the point.

The point was, SHIELD had something that Tony wanted, something he wanted that was worth far more than the simple minded monkeys could ever hope to understand. The Tesseract had origins far beyond the comprehension of a normal genius intellect, no matter how hard they tried to decipher the complexities of the device, and SHIELD was going to use it for some stupid ass reason like manufacturing weapons for a war that hadn't even begun yet and probably never would. Maybe this cube could enlighten Tony on some brand connection between quantum physics and gravity, like so many others theorize.

Staring at the holo before him, Tony felt a pang of something reverberate through his chest cavity. His father had been such a brilliant man and though Tony was loathe to admit, SHIELD thought the same way too. The entire file on this Tesseract had to do with its' theorized properties and uses. Apparently, it created shortages when stabilized 100%, as all known technology in the 1940's was in capable of hosting such a mass of energy. What made it all the more interesting and worth his time was the efficiency of the device.

According to the very little research unearthed by Johan Strauss, it had a .002% waste energy average, which was roughly 6 billion joules. That was above the average amount of energy in a fucking _lightning bolt._ But what made the Tesseract even more exciting was that such data was unearthed from just the kinetic side of the spectrum. The 8x8 inch cube held an estimated 1.7 duodecillion potential btu _(1)_ and a combined spectral and radiant intensity of 786 trintillion watts per cm^3. Tony had a sneaking suspicion that damn thing was near sentiment, as numbers so large as the ones presented should have killed anyone near the Tesseract, or at the very least make it humanly impossible to study. It was indeed possible to study though, and that just sweetened the deal of getting access to the device. Tony could have the whole world eating out of the palm of his hand, begging for this invention and that invention; they would praise _him_, not SHIELD or some other lowly organization, for ridding the atmosphere of CO2 and supplying the world with not only clean energy, but the mass production of affordable clean energy aides.

Fuck SHIELD, and HYDRA, and even The World Security Counsel, he would have complete control over all the damn finances and emotions in the world. Talk about power play! The bottom line was, Tony needed the Tesseract because if anyone was going to be in possession of a potentially world-ending artifact, it had to be Tony, no doubt about it.

Apparently SHIELD agreed.

Tony had been hanging about with Pepper when a text from Jarvis came—something along the lines of having an intruder on his way up to the pent house—and suddenly, he was being escorted to a SHIELD helicopter by Agent Agent, brief case and suit in hand.

Sure the stay in the Helicarrier back during the invasion had been almost enjoyable. Bruce had been-dare he say it-fun to speak with and Steve had been too fun to annoy. The Captain had been just like the comics painted him: loyal, honest, strong, muscular, handsome and he stank of an air of unadulterated good, which pissed Tony off to no end. Then, the whole apprehension of Loki happened, quickly followed by the loss of Loki, which again, pissed Tony off to no end. The only person on the damned boat-ship who had the slightest idea of what the Tesseract was capable of, aside from him, was gone. It just added to the already festering anger that he hadn't been able to stop the Tesseract, or at least get a chance to ask a few questions. It was well worth it, but Tony wouldn't know that for sometime.

As Loki was escorted to Central Park in a muzzle and shackles, courtesy of Agent Agent (who was, much to Tony's anger, alive, because one just didn't lie about things like that), the Avengers waited the departure anxiously. Well, all except for Tony, who hated the reality that the most precious sources of power he'd ever been lucky enough to come across, was leaving him forever.

Life was all blur after that. Reconstruction, working with Bruce on a number of projects with more security than Black Widow's file, endless PR stunts dealing with the rabid beings known as the press, and appeasing Pepper by becoming the unofficial speaker of the Avengers dominated a good portion of the following 2 years after the invasion. The team, if you could even call it that, was always separated. Birdy and Widow were doing who-knew-what for SHIELD day and night and Steve was working with Fury to promote America's image in third world countries by giving health aid and construction projects. It was working exceptionally well, except for the fact that this was Nick Fury, the man who would undoubtedly expect something, no matter how small, in return for the American charity. Tony couldn't blame him, politics were just like that.

Bruce, on the other hand, bounced around NYC, especially the impoverished neighborhoods, giving free medical attention to those in need. Sometimes, he stopped into the tower for a hello and access to the state of the art chemistry labs Tony had, but that was alright. Big Green was always a phone call away.

Rodney, Pepper and Happy continued their life as always, just like the rest of the New Yorkers. It amazed the middle aged genius how resilient the city was. Only two years later and one couldn't tell that there had been an alien invasion, the birth of a superhero group, multiple religious riots and countless protests.

Tony had finally succeeded in creating a 'space proof' suit and had even created an anti-virus for Runner. It was capable of stalling the virus for approximately 24 hours by throwing tons of volcano walls, advanced commands, and worms into SHIELDS enterprise server; untraceable and without notice of course. Of course, after the 24 hours were up, not only would Tony's private server be in jeopardy, but the Stark Industries enterprise server and the seldom used mega-drive that held some of the most well guarded formulae created by the prodigy chemists in R&D. The keys of the kingdom of you will.

So yeah, life was pretty darn good.

And then Loki returned, and true to his name, he caused quite a bit of chaos. It began small and Tony didn't know it was Loki at first. Unsolved equations laying about unprotected in Tony's StarkPad would solve themselves, and formulae would be improved at random. The little tid-bits of information caused Tony no small amount of panic, for all he knew SHIELD could have developed some out-of-this-world tech and some arrogant techie decided to fuck around. But even he knew that that was disgustingly outlandish.

In a short time-period, the phantom equation solver had moved on to bigger and better things like leaving mysterious books on magic and otherworldly theories that destroyed the foundation of most of Tony's thought processes. Seriously, these books described magic in such a detail that it actually annoyed him. Why couldn't science texts be so clean cut? From what he had gathered_ Magicks of the Old_ was merely a beginner's text, like Physics one, but god damn did it have a shit-ton of complicated rules and laws. Not to mention the many origin chapters which went into a kind of obscene detail on where all magic came from and all the different brands. Half of it he couldn't understand, much to his shame.

Thinking he could handle it, Tony cracked open _The Theorem of Chaotic Happenings_. He wished he hadn't, hell, he wished he hadn't touched any of the magic books. Despite the many tests ran on them, and Jarvis telling him it was safe, he should have left the godforsaken tomes alone. So, Tony reverted to his failsafe; mumbling his concerns and doubts to Jarvis and in a way explaining his thought process to himself.

"Jarv, am I understanding this right?" Tony spoke aloud with the thick text of _Magicks of the Old_ in hand. "It says everyone has the capability to summon energy from a huge mythical-or not so mythical-tree in Asgard. Like, what the fuck? Does that mean I can create some magic thingamabob? That makes no fucking sense! And when it says 'different mediums of magic' what the hell does that even mean? Maybe it has something to do with the different types of magic about. You know, different magics might need different mediums in which to work. It could explain why we Earthlings can't channel this Yggradssil magic because we lack the right mojo. So then, why can't we use Ginnungagap based magics? What—"

"Why indeed, Stark." That was _not_ the British accent he expected to reply.

Quick as bat out of hell, Tony whipped around in his stiff office chair, cracking his back painfully. There he was, the bastardized God of Mischief.

Loki of Asgard.

Here the god was in Tony's private work space in the sub-basement of StarkTower, donned in full battle regalia sans horned helmet, with his arms crossed, head tilted to the side and that infuriating smirk on his handsome face.

"What the hell are you doing here, Rock of Ages?" Tony questioned with little fucks to be given. "Aren't you supposed to be serving time in Asgard? You know, you do look like the type to just wait for some ponce to drop the soap. Like a prison peeper."

Why the hell was he not signaling for Jarvis to alert the boyband (as far as Tony was concerned, Natasha was an honorary dude)? Instead, he was rambling like an idiot. Rambling like an idiot to the insane bastard that tried to subjugate the Earth and would most likely easily and happily kill Tony if he said the wrong words.

Loki rolled his eyes, the vibrant green orbs focusing back on Tony with "I have come to parlay, Man of Iron."

Well damn.

* * *

_(1) _BTU- The British thermal unit (BTU or Btu) is a traditional unit of energy equal to about 1055 joules. I is the amount of energy needed to heat or cool one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

I am honored that each and everyone of you (no mater how large or small that quantity is) have read this far. Every view makes me dance with happiness, every favorite makes me smile like a loon, and every follow/alert makes me giggle like a maniac. So if the mental image of me dancing, grinning and singing like an asylum escapee warms your heart with sinister joy, I suggest you partake in the consequential actions _(ie: Review, follow and fave!). _All criticism is welcome, even the fames, as they warm my frigid soul (and I need a fire to roast some marshmallows occasionally, as I value _everyone's _imput.

My thanks unto you, beauteous mortals!


	2. Go 'Murica!

Chapter Two: Go 'Murica!

He now had half a year.

The last six months had been a flurry of intense planning and plotting. Discreet legislature had been moving silently through Senate at a startlingly rapid pace. It was little things, small bits of policy that worked together beautifully in the grand scheme of things.

Of course Tony Stark wasn't dense enough to push it through him self.

He had an entire board of well paid congressmen that when he said jump, would ask how high. These tools of his were responsible for carrying his will through Stark Industries, and as of recent, through Capitol Hill.

It was quite beautiful, the collapse of SHIELD. It served as an excellent distraction, the pandering idiots in congress would miss all signs of inter working legislation. Admittedly he had no hand in the fall of the mighty SHIELD, in fact, he had plans for incorporating their surprisingly black and white view of things to coerce them into decimating 'future threats' something that they were so prone to doing.

Tony thought it was a favorite activity of theirs, like a 'Let's see how many Turkish terrorists we can decimate today!' type thing. Maybe they even placed bets. Anyhow, it had worked in his favor outstandingly well.

The World Security Council had latched on to US government like a suckling babe, and leeched off of what ever functional government operations they could. Each member was in search of a way to kick start their governments back, and in turn looked at the US as a beacon of inspiration.

Of course the country that had booted up it's economy in record time after a depression must be doing something right! Just look at the way they handled an alien invasion!

Obviously, with politicians being pandering politicians, instead of molding ideas to fit their countries specific and unparalleled needs, they took legislature word for word and stuck it through their governments with blinding speed.

This had jump started Tony's backseat campaign at least six months, giving him room to introduce more than just the planned playing field. He would actually get a move on things way before Loki came into the picture, and that was beyond beneficial.

He wouldn't look like an inexperienced fool toying with the strings of a 'republic', but instead would appear as though he had some inkling of what was to be done in the world.

Tony had recognized that one hand, the sovereign countries and states part of the World Security Council would quickly come to the consensus to follow in the foot steps of the US, as a recovering United States was the strongest and most agreeable, and would therefore generate some ground breaking laws and ideas that would translate wonderfully into ideal government structure and rule.

On the other hand, the communist countries and states would have no such dealings. They would have to bought over with promises of power and influence, or simply with valuables, something which Tony far from lacked.

That wasn't a problem of course, the problem was far greater.

HYDRA was alive and kicking, and furious from their recent defeat.

They would pose the biggest problem and possible threat to any serious proceedings Loki had planned, depending on the context. But something told Tony that the Chaos God would vehemently object to any partnership with the hell-bent group.

Loki, just like himself, had a wish for total but quiet control. Contrary to popular belief, they had no desire to lay upon a golden throne and throw around orders. The wish of theirs was simple; to shape humanity into a fine race, one that was capable of reaching their greatest potential.

It was a difficult to achieve and Tony realized that he had been going about it the wrong way. He was quietly incorporating a more 'surveillance' brand of tech into his Stark Industries products, monitoring passwords and the like, even private conversation. This method would, of course, take much too long to achieve desired results, which would be a mass remote technological shut down. During this shut down, Tony had planned to rewrite laws, send phantom commands that would cause war with ten other countries and launch several organized terror groups into action.

In the midst of the chaos, he would swoop in like a night in shining armor, literally, and save the day.

The terrorist groups would be negated quickly, the wars would be ended with his endless arsenal of New Generation Tech unknown to the rest of the universe and flawless diplomacy, and the laws would have a self-beneficial effect that that masses would be unaware of, one that would make it possible for anyone who knew what to look for to drop in and rule the country. He would then proceed to blame the Mass Tech Shut Down on a faceless but quite well known organization: HYDRA.

Of course, he had planned to subtlety use those 'country domination' clauses, and would heavily use his newly and unparalleled fame to acquire his desired outcome of Chief Advisor to the World Security Council, and quietly twist the thoughts and actions of numerous world leader to suit his own purpose.

In retrospect, Tony realized that that idea was beyond foolish, time consuming and would have monumentally backfired. He didn't even have a plan of action considering SHIELD! Of course he had no way of knowing that they were alive and kicking, and that course of action would have had fatal consequences to millions, but it would have, regardless of his prior knowledge.

He was out to better the human race, not diminish it by millions.

Call him Machiavellian of you will, which he completely disagreed with by the way, but he was no Hitler.

His new course of action though, it was _perfect_.

With SHIELD gone and HYDRA exposed, it was the perfect time to stress upon the population the need for self-protection and self-awareness.

The masses had been lulled into a blissfully ignorant state of being, they were 'sleeping' if you will. So ready to sacrifice their fundamental rights for 'safety and security', it was disgusting.

The outing of HYDRA however, combined with the invasion of Manhattan jolted them out from their slumber, scaring the wits of out of them.

Instead of riots and protests however, the public was too shocked to make a move, much less a coherent one.

Think of how you act when violently woken from a particularly amazing sleep; your thoughts are slow, your moves sluggish, and more than anything, you're confused and want answers, but are incapable of going to great lengths to find which you seek. _That_ summed up the masses.

The timing was impeccable too, as only a week before had Tony been tasked with his one-year to "lay a playing field". From there, Tony's suggested and active legislature consisted of the abolishment of certain restricting laws that essentially prevented self-defense, the tightening of the Statue of Limitations on things such as theft and assault, and the abolishment of nearly all laws that allowed surveillance agencies access to Private Domain. There were many other laws of the same tangent, the public had to defend themselves as well.

Well, at least that's what the public saw. Safety and security the right say. It was boost in nationalism, something that was sorely needed for all issues to quickly be passed trough committees with limited changes and for all bills to be voted on in an equal timely manner. Presidential vetoes were something of very little concern, as he was too busy making diplomatic meeting with other countries, mending broken ties and smoothing over the latest events. Unbeknownst to him that the countries we're already well on their way to getting back to their former partnerships, and no diplomacy was necessary. Though it did make the US seem actually sincere, a first in over two hundred years.

In other words, everything was coming along swimmingly.

Phase One of Tony's legislative plan was near completion, four months ahead of schedule. It was about time for Phase Two, the stressful, delicate and tedious Phase Two.

It was time for the masses to be introduced to idea of life on other planets, or realms in this case.

Tony Stark sat in his workshop chair, straight backed and confident. He was ready for the religious riots and the violent protests, and he had braced himself for the possibility that he might have to take a much more active stance in the media and political circus America had become.

There had been too much peace as of late, the silence was eerie and the cheerfulness was increasingly out of place the more he thought of Loki's ambitious plans. Their Empire in the Making.

Their would be war, of what kind, he knew not. But he was ready.

Until then, though, he would quietly prepare the people.

Midgard would be the docile realm no more, and the mighty Asgard would know, right along with the Nine Realms.

* * *

"Helblindi, what is the state of our army?"

"Non existent I'm afraid. Jotunheim hasn't had an army since the reign of Utgard Loki. Rebel militias usually dealt with all visitors, however few they were."

"We are defenseless." It was a statement, one that carried impossible weight, and struck fear into the heart of the court. Helblindi gazed at his king-brother. He was much smaller than the other giants, but the size was far from a testament of his power.

Loki had rid the realm of the Fárbjódrs, the enormous clan of giants that terrorized the people of Jotünheimr.

Since the first fall of the kingdom, the age of _ædra_, the Fárbjódrs had run unrestrained throughout the land, decimating clan after clan that supported and practiced the old ways of Utgard Loki, the fallen king.

They had raped and pillaged clan after clan, laying waste to all in their path. Driven by greed, the Fárbjódrs swore to exterminate the last of the Utgard bloodline.

But one giant had stood firm in his resolve, and claimed the Utgard Citadel as a safe haven for all those of the old ways, for those who could bear the journey, and avoid the Fárbjódrs. The giants' name was Laufey

Only one-fourth of the population made it. The rest were either killed, or forced to join the mass militia in fear of death or dire mutilation, much like the Blood Diamond crusades of Sierra Léon.

That giant aided all he could, and even worked to lap those exiled unjustly to the Útar by Utgard Loki, no one deserved the fate written by the Fárbjódrs.

The Utgard Citadel thrived for decades, but the stay was an unpleasant one. Giants multiplied despite scare food and other vital resources and soon, cannibalism was a staple in the ways of the Jotüns. They would wait until one of them had passed on to Hel, and they would then feast upon the deceased flesh, with heavy hearts and tearful eyes, for how far had they fallen.

That was a primary reason the Æsir began to grow hateful and weary of the Jotüns. Heimdall who was mandated by blood vow, was sworn to tell the truth of the state of each realm, reported to the All-Father of their condition.

The All-Father, being every bit of the naive young king he was, relayed the information the the whole of Asgard, and through that, the fear and demonization of Jotünheimr and its inhabitants.

Unaware of the growing opinions of Asgard, Laufey and his sizable clan had drawn plans to invade the main Fárbjódr camp, and thief what had been stolen from them long ago - the Casket of Ancient Winters.

One raid and a total of 7,000 casualties later, Utgard was restored to the fruitful and prosperous Citadel it once was, the threat of the Fárbjódrs negated.

Laufey, who had unknowingly been harvesting a sizable, albeit inactive magical core, was very surprised upon learning that he was with child. The father being his chief in command, Fárabuti The masses had rejoiced and he had been showered with gift upon gift, praised for his now apparent magical potential. Citizens had leaned from their marble balconies and showered the streets with precious jewels and confetti of silk, showing just how prosperous they had become, and how they wished to equally welcome the new heir of fortune.

He had birthed a fine heir, to the pleasure of the people and the surprise of none, the strong and healthy Helblindi. The child had been the eye of all of Utgard, he was everything Fárabuti and Laufey had wished for.

Soon after, Laufey learned that he was again with child, a cause for much more celebration within his small kingdom.

Again, parties were thrown with much enthusiasm, and people once again took to their balconies and showered the streets with valuables of every kind imaginable, although this time, the fortune that had blessed the Utgard Citadel would fall short. The All-Father, in all of his glorious wisdom had decided that it was a prudent matter to repress that Jotün population, and his way would be to wage a war in the name of freedom.

In immeasurable waves, the Asgardians appeared in Jotünheimr via Bi-Frost and marched with purpose to the Utgard Citadel with the belief that they were ridding Yggdrasil of evil. With fiery determination they raided homes and killed without bias upon the outskirts of the city.

Soon the race of warriors had approached the wall, bloodied and hard of breath, but ready to demolish the walls surrounding.

With cries and yells of war, the icy fortress protecting the inhabitants of Utgard slowly crumbled. The shabby inexperienced seidr layering and warding the blocks of ice held strong for a mere minute before they gave way to the brute strength of the Æsir's. Flaming arrows rained dutifully upon the innocents, leaving trails of unforgiving flame in their wake.

All the while, Fárabuti readied the Jotün warriors, and Laufey huddled inside of Utgard Loki's temple, crying and trembling with pain. Harsh shrieks of pure pain resonated throughout the Limestone temple.

His face scrunched up in tears as three hand maidens entered the sacred room, and no sooner than they lay their king upon the bedrock table in the center of the circular walls, a blinding flash of lightning brought forth the babe Loki.

The handmaidens were terrified, especially Mardi. The giantess cradled the head of the runt giant while her companions Dido and Fela wove healing _seidr_ throughout Laufey's stressed body. Just as the babe let loose his first cry of life, Laufey rose roughly from the flat sheet of rock.

"Let me see him." Laufey walked to where Mardi stood cradling the fragile child with worry.

"Helblindi will be pleased, as will the Lord Fárabuti." Mardi's tone wavered and exposed all worry with carelessness. Laufey craned his neck to see the tiny babe, no bigger than the size of a midgardian newborn, as opposed to the normal size he should be, the size of midgardian four year old.

A crash boomed through Utgard in that moment and a grand shake terrified it's inhabitants. The war had begun.

"He was born of lightning and chaos, fire rains from the sky as his dawn begins. He will renew the Yggdrasil. He is the _ørl g_." Laufey prophesized as he shifted the newborn in his arms. Scarlet eyes peered at him curiously, and a sapphire blue hand grasped futilely toward his face.

"Mardi, I must leave, I must defend my people. Defend the prince with your life. Worry not, Helblindi is with Fárabuti, you will meet her later." Laufey lay Loki in Mardi's arms and began toward the door.

"Wait, my king! You will surely perish-" Mardi trailed off as a visible wave of energy tore through the realm. The transverse length caused all four adults to buckle over and little Loki to begin wailing uncontrollably.

In that moment, Laufey knew all fighting would be futile, the Casket was removed from its resting place, and that meant that the Fárbjódrs had aided the Æsir in their conquest, thinking that they would be spared.

If the hoarse screams of Jotün warriors meant anything, it was that the brutish Æsir had discarded the trader Jotüns, after all treason was above murder in Asgardian law.

"King Laufey, your attempts would be for naught-" Mardi began, only to be cut off just as swiftly.

"I will fight till my death, Valhalla awaits. Meet Fárabuti in the temple of Ætt. Raise my sons well." With one last look at his beautiful creation, Laufey turned his back on the maidens and exited the temple.

"We cannot possibly leave now, the Æsir, maybe even the Fárbjódrs are abound. We'll all be killed." Fela stressed, wringing her large hands in front of her. Her sister Dido shared the same expression, and looked to their cousin Mardi for guidance. They were given explicit orders by their King Laufey, but they would only lead to the certain death of all of them.

Mardi turned swiftly, much to Loki's discomfort, and the babe began fussing after having finally quieted down. She placed him into Fela's waiting arms, and the younger giantess cooed in what was supposed to be a soothing tone, but only spelled uncertainty and worry. Mardi traced the black walls walls with her smooth hands. "Dido, Fela, come. We'll ward the temple." Mardi rushed toward the doors.

"But don't we have to be outside? What of the prince?" Dido asked, watching Fela as she placed Loki upon the alter on which he was birthed.

"Yes, but they will not reach Loki, and we will only be minutes. Come sister." Fela answered for Mardi, and made way to the door, her thin skirt flowing around her ankles, leaving Dido no chance for objection. The three maidens made their way out of the temple, and right to the face of the All-Father.

The rest was history.

Now, all would be righted; the _Mærr kynslód_ of Utgard Loki had been revived. Jotünheimr had a king who listened to the people, who helped the poor and revived the realm. Loki had returned the Casket of Ancient Winters to its rightful resting place, and Heimdall's vision was impaired under a guise that Jotünheimr remained just as pitiful as it was a century back.

The realm was brighter, the sun shined with warmth rather than a punishing glare that the giants had been so accustomed to. The children played outside and the adults gathered in sitting rooms, speaking of the way fortune seemed to be smiling upon them.

Loki may have been the ósællgir of Asgard, but he was a Jotün first and foremost, and he ruled with the wellbeing of the people in mind.

He was a fine leader.

Of course there were those who opposed his rule, who argued that Helblindi should be seated at the throne as the rightful heir, that Loki had lived under Æsir influence far too long to be of any value to the Jotüns. That his royal blood shouldn't even be recognized.

These rebels were called to court and seated in front of the King. Yes, seated, like they were of some equality to Loki. They were coerced and reasoned with.

If at the end of the sitting session, one did not agree, one was dealt with.

His or her fate would be decided by Loki, death being the consistent ruling. Surprisingly, the Jotüns respected the iron fisted decision to have all rebels sentenced to execution. They were afraid that if the rebels were exiled to the Útar, then the resentment would breed a new generation of Fárbjódrs.

All was well in Jotünheimr, but now it was time for them to prepare for the upcoming changes in the Nine Realms, and that included raising an Army.

"Yes King Brother, that is correct." Helblindi looked at his younger brother with a sense of admiration. He had done what no other had succeed in doing, he brought back the Casket. He deserved the throne.

Loki shifted and adjusted his loin cloth. It was time for order.

"I want all able bodied men over the age of semi-maturity trained by the finest swordsmen and marksmen we have. All of those men will be tested for magical aptitude and if so capable, will be trained accordingly. All women of mature age and over, without children, are to be trained and tested as well. We will have an army within a Midgardian year."

Loki dictated with a pensive look upon his face. It was time to approach his daughter.

The playing field was about to get a whole lot larger.

Translations- **Fárbjódr(s)**: Destroyer, destroyers;** Útar**: Outlands; **Ósællgir**: ill-favored; **Ørl g**: destiny, war, fate; **Mærr:** famous, noble, glorious; **Kynslód**: family, progeny; **Ætt**: direction, ancestry; **Ædra**: despair

**_A/N_**: Just some background and some information so you know what Tony and Loki are planning and the moves they're making. Hope you liked it!


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